Scottish

Towns

Glen Lednoch Circular Walk

Length: 4 miles Height climbed: 640ft./200m Grade: B Parking: Comrie Toilet facilities: Comrie Comrie is a pleasant village in upper Strathearn, lying 6 miles west of Crieff on the A85. The name comes from the Gaelic word "combruith", signifying a confluence of rivers. Three rivers merge at Comrie - the Earn, the Ruchill Water and the Lednock. This walk will take you up the glen of the Lednock. Start the walk at Laggan car park (east end of Comrie) where there is a leaflet cairn. The leaflet will prove a useful guide and will lead you across the Lednock to Comrie School. Turn right beyond the school, carry straight on to Monument Road and turn right at the sign of the Circular Walk. This will lead you to a path through the wood. Continue along this path, through woods of beech, oak and larch, making a detour to the right to view the Wee Cauldron - a set of rapids - before continuing upstream to the Deil's Cauldron. A long flight of steps leads down the steep side of the glen to a viewpoint, where the power of the water can be seen at close proximity as it rushes through its dark gully. The path now joins the metalled road up the glen for a short distance, before making another optional detour, this time up the hill to your left - Dun More - to visit the 72ft/22m high monument which was erected there in 1812 in memory of Henry Dundas, the 1st Viscount Melville. The path is steep, but the magnificent views from the summit more than justify the effort: over the cliffs to the south (be careful of these) Comrie can be seen below, with Strathearn widening to the east and the peaks of the Ochils and the Lomonds in the distance. Return to the road and follow the signposts for "Laggan Wood", crossing the Lednock by the ingenious Shaky Bridge, one end of which is balanced in the fork of a sycamore. In the field to the right of the path, just before the bridge, is a large mound encircled by a row of oaks and spanish chestnuts. This is believed to have been, at one time, the site of the chapel. The path follows the river for a short distance, as it winds through open fields, before gently climbing the slope above the river and entering Laggan Wood over a stile. The wood is a mixture of planted conifer trees and self-set birch and oaks - particularly evident in the deep river gully to the right of the path. Follow the path through the wood until it re-enters Comrie. Last updated November 1999